Hangout Festival 2012

I feel like I start every single post with the same sentence, but geez it's been a busy past few weeks! There has been a LOT going on around these parts, but today I'm going to focus on my weekend at The Hangout Fest. I'll be honest...a recap of that weekend will be much more entertaining than my typical schedule of feeding Charlotte, playing with Charlotte, selling billboards, cleaning, laundry, changing diapers. You know how it goes.

Back to the fun stuff...

The weekend of May 18th, 19th, and 20th, I ventured down to the local beach (shoutout to Gulf Shores, AL!) for a weekend of fun in the sun. Two of my best friends from college were in town and let me tell you--excitement was abound.

My friend Lindsey flew in from Brunswick, GA by the way of Charlotte, NC after lifting off in Jacksonville, FL. Now I'm not sure who decided you need to go north before heading due west, but let's just assume someone at Delta headquarters was pissed off about our weekend of sisterhood. Nicole, my former roommate and partner-in-crime bestie, also made the not-quite-so-long trip from Prattville, AL and we all met up at our beachfront condo.

I've been to a few music festivals in my day and there is a checklist of things you should and should NOT do. Apparently it is vital that every concert goer wear a pair of Wayfarers, preferably of the Rayban variety. I admit it, I'm guilty, too, but my saving grace is that I've had mine for over two years now so I beat the bandwagon. Take that young hippie wannabes!

Secondly, if you are able to or someone in your party is able to---girls MUST sport a braid. Sorry, Linds, don't wanna call you out because the braid was super cute, but you know it's true. :) I probably would have had one too if I hadn't been the one doing the braiding.

Don't wear inappropriate clothing. I saw one chick with furry white boots on her obviously sweaty feet. It was 100 degrees with lots of walking and lots of people. See the flip flop rule for future reference. At one point Lindsey said, "It looks like everyone is 20 years old and just stepped out of an Aeropostale catelog." True dat, sista. True dat.

This was a couple of hours before some Yankee shuttle-bus passenger called us old and decrepid.

We saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers (on my personal concert bucket list), Dispatch (one of my faves-google "Flying Horses" or "Bang Bang" for some good tunes). Michael Franti sang a fabulous version of "Ganga Baby" before we settled in to hear Dave Mathews Band on Sunday night.

Ahhh..Dave. It had been a while, but I wasn't disappointed. Listening to "Big Eyed Fish" and 'Song 41' with two of my best friends almost made me feel like I was 20 again-riding around Troy, AL looking for something to get into. Nicole and I speant a LOT of time in my old Pathfinder, listening to DMB and talking about our man situations. We went to Bonnaroo together back in 2003 for my 21st birthday so it was only fitting that we did Hangout Fest together, too. It makes me realize just how much a song can take you back to a certain time or place. Makes you suddenly remember a funny story you haven't thought about in years.

THAT was the highlight of my weekend. The festival was good and the music was wonderful, but it was spending time with my gals and reminiscing that brought me the most happiness.

Or was it Lindsey asking my cousin if she could buy a roll of toilet paper for $1?

Let me tell you a little bit about us three gals back in college. We were fun! We were the party! We were the girls dancing in front of the stage, singing at the top of our lungs, and loving life. We are still those girls...just a bit more subdued. I'm not sure if any of us have seen 3 am (other than feeding a baby) in quite some time.

Yet somehow one of us can still lose an article of clothing before the end of an evening.